West London production duo Josh Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland have said that they were inspired to start making music together after watching The Strokes at their local venue, Shepherd’s Bush Empire, back in 2006. Fast forward all the way to the end of this month and their band Jungle is on level pegging with the iconic New Yorkers, both headlining on different days at Hackney’s All Points East festival.
Lloyd-Watson and McFarland remain far less likely to be recognised in the street, however. While never quite going as far as Daft Punk’s helmet disguises, they have deliberately retained an impressive level of anonymity for a group with three top 10 albums. Around the time of their Mercury-nominated self-titled debut in 2014, they weren’t revealing their full names and stayed out of their consistently stylish, mesmerisingly choreographed music videos. They were doing most of the singing, however, and performed on stage, albeit not as the focal points of their large live band.
On album number four, they’re stepping backwards again, using more guest vocalists than ever before including the American rappers Erik the Architect, Bas and Channel Tres, plus a British veteran, Roots Manuva. A relatively recent permanent addition to the band, Lydia Kitto, has the dominant voice, singing with raw-throated soul on the powerful opener, Us Against the World.
At times in the past, though Jungle’s music has sounded impeccably cool, sitting between soul, funk, disco and electronica, it could be too tasteful to really excite. Here there’s a sense of fun and energy that rarely lets up. Holding On thunders along on a weighty 4/4 beat. Candle Flame recalls the chirpy soul pop of Danish duo Junior Senior’s one-hit wonder from 2003, Move Your Feet. Don’t Play has the filtered, ear-twisting sound of French house music, while the flutes and chanting of Coming Back make for another one aimed at the dancefloor on their imminent lengthy world tour. The pair have been doing more DJ work than they used to, and seem to have given their own material more oomph to suit.
When they ease off a bit, as on the casually funky Dominoes and the weightless soul of Good at Breaking Hearts, the music goes down like a cool drink on a summer day. If the weather’s fine when they start their tour in Victoria Park on August 26, this will be a perfect accompaniment.
